Friday, June 27, 2014

How to Avoid the Next Crash: ... Many central banks, led by the U.S. Federal Reserve, have innovated boldly when it comes to monetary policy. They have pumped money into the financial system. They have provided banks with emergency loans. They have started providing "forward guidance" in an attempt to stabilize markets. Some even pay negative interest rates on reserves as a way to encourage private lending. Many countries have overhauled their financial regulatory systems as well.

There is a third category of innovation, however -- known as macroprudential policy -- that has lagged behind. It shouldn’t.

As the name suggests, macroprudential policies are a kind of hybrid: financial regulations attuned to the condition of the system as a whole, rather than the soundness of particular banks or other institutions. ...

Few deny the need for macroprudential policy. If speeches and conferences on the topic were a measure of progress, there'd be no cause for concern. Sadly, they aren't. Governments should develop a sense of urgency before it's too late.

For me, stopping the equivalent of bank runs within the shadow banking system -- a big problem during the financial crisis that has not yet been fully addressed -- is a top priority.

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'How to Avoid the Next Crash'

From the editors at BloombergView:

How to Avoid the Next Crash: ... Many central banks, led by the U.S. Federal Reserve, have innovated boldly when it comes to monetary policy. They have pumped money into the financial system. They have provided banks with emergency loans. They have started providing "forward guidance" in an attempt to stabilize markets. Some even pay negative interest rates on reserves as a way to encourage private lending. Many countries have overhauled their financial regulatory systems as well.

There is a third category of innovation, however -- known as macroprudential policy -- that has lagged behind. It shouldn’t.

As the name suggests, macroprudential policies are a kind of hybrid: financial regulations attuned to the condition of the system as a whole, rather than the soundness of particular banks or other institutions. ...

Few deny the need for macroprudential policy. If speeches and conferences on the topic were a measure of progress, there'd be no cause for concern. Sadly, they aren't. Governments should develop a sense of urgency before it's too late.

For me, stopping the equivalent of bank runs within the shadow banking system -- a big problem during the financial crisis that has not yet been fully addressed -- is a top priority.